It'sa Mario Party!

One of the world's most popular characters is turning 25, and our friends at Nintendo invited us to a party at the Nintendo World Store this weekend to celebrate with Mario and his creator, Shigeru Miyamoto.

Hundreds of Nintendo fans lined up in front of the newly-relaunched Nintendo World Store, some donning costumes from Mario to Luigi, Princess Peach and even Fire Mario. Nintendo treated their devoted fans to a cake-cutting ceremony with Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime who had the crowd rocking as he introduced Nintendo's famed developer and father of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, to take the first slice of the Super Mario-inspired cake.

Miyamoto and his Mario games have sold over 210 million units, and still has games coming out on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, including the upcoming Super Mario All-Stars on Wii.

It's always great to see the smiles and throngs of fans come out for a gaming event, and we hope more gaming companies take a cue from this Mario party. Head over to Joystiq for more coverage of Mario's 25th Anniversary party!